Van Eck Associates has acquired a hedge fund beta business and team from Lyster Watson, and will be offering a suite of strategies called Trackers.

Trackers are hedge-style beta strategies based on indexes developed using a patented methodology and proprietary intellectual property.

Each index seeks to capture the beta of a specific hedge fund strategy, and the Trackers team focuses only on those hedge fund strategies whose returns can be statistically replicated using tradable risk factors represented by US-listed ETFs.

The team believes that not all hedge fund strategies are conducive to this approach.

The Trackers business currently includes the following indexes:
 • Long/Short Equity North America Tracker Index
 • Long/Short Equity Western Europe Tracker Index
 • Long/Short Equity Developed Asia Tracker Index
 • Long/Short Equity Emerging Markets Tracker Index
 • Long/Short Equity Global Tracker Index
 • Event-Driven Equity Tracker Index

Two Tracker strategies, with over USD75m in assets under management, are currently offered: Van Eck Long/Short Equity North America Tracker and Van Eck Long/Short Equity Emerging Markets Tracker.

The team of Marc Freed, Mark Hurrell and Ben McMillan will manage the Trackers business for Van Eck Global.

“We’re very excited to add the Hedge Fund Beta Team and its sophisticated methodology to our alternatives group,” says Jan van Eck, principal of Van Eck Associates. “Their innovative approach to tracking hedge fund performance is a great fit with our existing alternative strategies and is an approach we believe has applications for investors looking to build and manage a diversified alternative investment portfolio.”